Condi Rice: Secretary of Salchow?

This little blurb appeared in the Detroit Free Press this morning.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave the keynote address at annual WNBA (U.S. women's basketball league) all-star luncheon, on the topic of providing girls with opportunities to participate and excel in sports.

"That [when Rice was a girl] was pre-Title IX [the federal law that mandates equal opportunity for girls to play sports in schools].

"So I took up a sport girls did, and I became a figure skater. This was definitely the wrong sport. You had to fall, get up and smile like nothing had happened."

Secretary Rice went on to praise female basketball players "who sweat and get dirty on the court, maybe even swear a little bit, and look like they are playing sports."

Condi mentioned in an interview she was able to do up to double jumps. She is a figure skating craze. That's why MK got the envoy position. She even telegramed shen & zhao for their perfect performance in D.C at 2003 worlds.

I also heard that she made itinerary changes on one of her trips to Europe so she would be in Bulgaria at a time she could meet Denkova and Staviski.

Frankly, though, I wish that she had phrased her speech to make skating fit in more with other sports -- the idea, for example, that after a fall, you get up and get back in the game is not limited to skating.

I
Frankly, though, I wish that she had phrased her speech to make skating fit in more with other sports -- the idea, for example, that after a fall, you get up and get back in the game is not limited to skating.

Me too.

When I first read it quickly I was like - Condi is calling figure skating a 'girly sport' and i rolled my eyes and ignored it. Then later I realized that the criticism was 'having to smile' (like make it look pretty, as if it didn't hurt, as if you aren't sweating/playing a sport) - which, I could understand and just wished she followed it up differently somehow (as in, not right for me because I couldn't hide the pain or some such thing). And it would have been nicer if it didn't seem to set basketball up as a 'real' sport and figure skating as a 'girly/lesser' one (and I think basketball is fabulous, btw).

Well, I do think she was saying that back in the day girls could only do girls' sports, where they had to look and act like princesses.

Now, thanks to greater opportunities, they can get down and dirty in the trenches like the boys do.

Right, and totally important point to make (so, thanks for making it clear) and it is particularly important to make in the US at the moment (and interesting that it was made by a US official - and imo, this particular official) as there are so many movements to end programs that level the playing field and create more opportunities for women and men.

I still wish she could've added a little something so as NOT to leave the impression that figure skating is 'girly' in the oldfashioned sense.

BTW, there was a follow-up story in today's Detroit paper. Detroit Shock basketball star Cheryl Ford (daughter of basketballer Karl Malone, a good friend of Michelle's, LOL) said that there were so many secret service agents around Secretary Rice all the time that the players only had a chance to say, "hi, bye" to her.

yes, i knew that Rice was a former figure skater and that she reallly liked it.. but realized that she could never be good enough to reach the top. I figured that had somthing to do with Michelle's job.